Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 // OSLO, Norway -- Cognite, a global industrial AI software-as-a-service (SaaS) company supporting the full-scale digital transformation of heavy-asset industries around the world, today announced a strategic initiative with long-time partner Aker BP, one of Europe’s largest independent oil and gas companies, to explore how robotics systems can be used to make offshore operations safer, more efficient and more sustainable.
Cognite and Aker BP will do several tests using robots and drones on the Skarv installation in the Norwegian Sea during 2020. The robotics systems will be tested to gauge their performance in autonomous inspection, high-quality data capture, and automatic report generation. Tasks may include aerial and underwater inspections, responding to leaks, performing work that takes humans out of harm’s way, and providing onshore operators with telepresence on offshore installations.
Among the robots involved in the initiative is Spot, the quadruped robot developed by Boston Dynamics. Cognite and Aker BP have tested Spot’s mobility in simulated oil and gas environments to ensure that it can access locations in these facilities too difficult to access through traditional automation.
The Spot robot was showcased at Aker BP’s Capital Markets Update on Feb. 11, 2020.
“Digitalization will be one of the differentiators between the oil companies of the world in order to be able to deliver low cost and low emissions. Our vision is to digitalize all our operations from cradle to grave in order to increase productivity, enhance quality, and improve the safety of our employees. Exploring the potential of robotics offshore underpin our digital journey," said Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Aker BP.
“We’re excited to see innovative partners such as Cognite validating Spot’s ability to reduce risk to humans and provide value for the energy industry,” said Michael Perry, Vice President of Business Development at Boston Dynamics.
Cognite’s main software product, Cognite Data Fusion (CDF), will serve as the data infrastructure for the initiative. CDF, a cloud-based industrial data operations and intelligence platform, integrates seamlessly with existing IT and OT applications in the cloud, edge, and on-premise. CDF contextually enriches industrial data, providing an open, unified industrial data model that is easily accessible for humans and applications, enabling better analytical operations and data-driven decisions.
“The key to Aker BP and Cognite’s robotics initiative is that it combines industry-leading hardware and software. By ingesting data collected by robots into Cognite Data Fusion, Aker BP engineers will be able to see it in context with data from across the company’s operations and make data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and safety,” said Dr. John Markus Lervik, CEO of Cognite.
Contacts:
Michelle Holford
Head of PR
michelle.holford@cognite.com
Giedre Malinauskaite
Vice President of Marketing & Communication, Cognite
giedre.malinauskaite@cognite.com
By Team Cognite
Cognite is a global industrial SaaS company that supports the full-scale digital transformation of asset-heavy industries around the world. Our core Industrial DataOps platform, Cognite Data Fusion™, enables data and domain users to collaborate to quickly and safely develop, operationalize, and scale industrial AI solutions and applications. Cognite Data Fusion codifies industrial domain knowledge into software that fits into your existing ecosystem and enables scale from proofs of concept to truly data-driven operations to deliver both profitability and sustainability.